Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.

The US presidential debate candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump broke a TV record this Monday. At least 84 million viewers tuned in for the heated debate. The previous debate of 80 million viewers was set in by Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. This week’s count only includes live viewers of US TV channels. It does not take into account who watched via social media channels or those who watched in large groups at places like restaurants. Some post-debate surveys declared Mrs Clinton the winner while others gave the win to Mr. Trump. There are two more presidential debates scheduled before the US election on .

Comprehension Questions

Who are Mrs Clinton and Mr Trump?

What record did they break?

What does the number 84,000 not include?

Discussion Questions: What is the role of a moderator in a debate, and what qualities does a good moderator have?

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US Presidential Debate Breaks TV Record
The US presidential debate between candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump broke a TV record this Monday. At least 84 million viewers tuned in for the heated debate. The previous debate record of 80 million viewers was set in 1980 by Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. This week’s count only includes live viewers of US TV channels. It does not take into account those who watched via social media channels or those who watched in large groups at places like restaurants. Some post-debate surveys declared Mrs Clinton the winner while others gave the win to Mr. Trump. There are two more presidential debates scheduled before the US election on November 8.

Mrs Clinton and Mr Trump are the two candidates running for the US presidency.

They broke the record of number of viewers who watched a US presidential debate. The previous record was held by Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980.

The number 84,000 does not include viewers who watched in a large group or viewers who watched online via a social media network.

Written by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub

Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.